Newborn travels to Children's Hospital for heart transplant

St. Louis, MO (KSDK) - A six-day-old baby from an eastern Kansas city was flown to St. Louis Children's Hospital last week to await a heart transplant, the child's only hope for long-term survival.

Bentley Clark was born November 11 in Emporia, Kansas. Doctors at the family hospital discovered one side of Bentley's body was receiving oxygenated blood from his heart. He was initially airlifted to pediatric hospital in Kansas City, where doctors located and removed a clot his heart. Bentley was two-days-old at the time of the surgery.

The following day, doctors noticed Bentley Clark's pulmonary function was still declining. The newborn was placed on ECMO, a treatment utilizing a pump and oxygenator to deliver oxygen to vital organs in place of the heart and lungs.

Since St. Louis Children's Hospital is the most active heart transplant center in the region, the decision was made to fly Bentley there for care.

On Monday, Bentley Clark was given a Berlin heart, a device used to support a child until a donor heart becomes available.

Bentley's parents will relocate to St. Louis while their son awaits his transplant.